Tyree Appleby's nine assists against the Tigers were his most in two seasons as a Gator.
Appleby Drives Gators, Thus Holds Key to Success
Wednesday, January 12, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Chris Harry
Share:
By: Chris Harry, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Barely 11 minutes in Saturday night, Florida point guard Tyree Appleby had turned the ball over three times in his team's road game at ninth-ranked Auburn. His fourth turnover came with with less than two minutes to play in the half and led to a transition 3-pointer by the Tigers and a 13-point deficit.
Appleby did not turn the ball over the rest of the game; a game the Gators turned into a one-point affair with 10 minutes to go. Unlike early in the game, Appleby played under control, didn't try to force things, didn't try to do too much.
"I thought he was terrific," White said Tuesday of Appleby's play in what eventually became an 85-73 win for the Tigers, who just had too much talent, firepower and home crowd for the Gators to withstand. "The last 35 minutes of the game he was really solid with ball decisions and showed a lot of mental toughness in an electric environment."
The pace, clean play and decision-making of Appleby allowed UF to get back in the game and gave the Gators a chance. He finished with 11 points, four rebounds, a Florida career-best nine assists and four steals, and did so against one of the best defenses in the country.
Now he has to do it again Wednesday night.
Against an even better defense.
If Appleby can replicate the floor game he displayed against the Auburn Tigers against the 12th-ranked LSU Tigers (14-2, 2-1) Wednesday night at Exactech Arena, the Gators (9-5, 0-2) will have a far better chance of emerging from their brutal gauntlet of three games against three ranked opponents to open the 2021-22 Southeastern Conference slate. The Auburn defense checked in Saturday rated No. 6 overall in efficiency, according to KenPom.com advance metrics. LSU ranks No. 1 in that category, including first in the country in steals, with swipes on 17 percent of opposing teams' possessions.
[Read senior writer Chris Harry's "Pregame Stuff" setup here]
"I feel like we just have to put a whole 40 minutes together," Appleby said after Tuesday's practice. "We [have] come out, and the first 20 minutes we play good, then come out and the second 20 minutes are sloppy or whatever. So I think just putting our games together for a whole 40 minutes, I think that we will be a very dangerous team."
That's the goal for every team, every night, of course. A goal that's rarely attained.
But the Gators have reference points from which to work from in their pursuit of that objective. It wasn't that long ago they started the season with six straight victories by playing to the calling card of a defensive-minded, high-effort bunch that did a decent job with fundamentals and details. The Gators still had their share of mistakes, still turned the ball over too much at times, but they made up for their shortcomings by out-hustling their opponents — and by defending.
Tyree Appleby leaves the Auburn Arena floor as the final horn sounds in Saturday night's 85-73 road loss, a defeat that dropped the Gators to 0-2 in SEC play.
A week ago, in an 83-70 home loss to Alabama, the Gators were pulverized on the glass, surrendering 20 offensive rebounds, and committed an equal number of turnovers, a season-worst. As a result, the Crimson Tide shot 20 more field goals and broke the game open early in the second half. UF was out-rebounded at Auburn, 39-32, but took care of the basketball much better (12 turnovers versus 16 for the Tigers). Defensively, the Gators still gave up 50-percent shooting, but the Tigers are blessed by a bevy of offensive talent and were playing on their home floor.
It was either team's game until Auburn hit a trio of 3-pointers over a three-minute stretch late in the second half, with two of them part of 10-2 run that opened a double-digit lead.
Along the way, though, Florida was reminded of the best version of itself; if only for, say, 30 minutes.
"We felt like we lost our identity [after the hot start to the season], but we're just slowly regaining and getting that confidence back and figuring out who we are again," Appleby said. "We're just now getting our mojo back and finding our identity [like] when we started the season off."
LSU, meanwhile, has no mojo issues. The Tigers have a unique style of defense — a combination of man pressure that folds into zone pressures — and they play it magnificently, with great guards in the lanes and gaps, backed by size and toughness defending the rim. Whether they'll be at full strength, however, will be determined at game. Senior point guard Xavier Pinson, the transfer from Missouri who leads the team in assists and steals, went down late in Saturday's home win over 18th-ranked Tennessee with a knee injury that looked serious at the time. Tests the next day revealed an MCL sprain, which was good news, but Pinson's availability just four days later would appear a longshot. The Tigers have depth to cover for Pinson if he can't go.
The Gators, meanwhile will have to contend with 6-foot-8 sophomore forward Tari Eason, the transfer from Cincinnati who leads the team in scoring and is second in rebounding, four-year starting forward Darius Days (second in scoring, tops in rebounding), 6-11 freshman center Efton Reid, and a handful of havoc-wreaking guards.
LSU is allowing just 56.4 points per game — the Tigers' average margin of victory is 20.5 points — and surrender just 34.9-percent shooting from the floor (that's first in the SEC) and only 26.6 from the 3-point line (also first).
"We've got to play really well to have a chance," White said. "We play really well at times."
This time will require more times like the best of what the Gators (and Appleby) put on tape at Auburn.
